Former Australian all-rounder Shane Lee could not believe his ears when he heard Ricky Ponting querying the form of Indian talisman Virat Kohli ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy beginning in Perth next Thursday.

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The critique of the 35-year-old by the former Australian captain prompted a barbed response from Indian coach Gautam Gambhir, who queried Ponting’s expertise on Indian cricket when asked about the merits of Kohli’s selection.

Lee, who featured in two Australian World Cup squads, said he was surprised that his ex-captain would provide the Indian legend with any ammunition ahead of Australia’s bid to wrest back the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.

“That is a bad move, Ricky. What are you doing? You are going to fire that guy up. He is a world class player and he will fire up out here,” Lee said on Fox Cricket’s podcast The Follow On.

Ponting had noted that Kohli has struggled to produce his best cricket in his 30s, with the Indian star notching only two centuries and 11 half-centuries in his last 60 Test innings. He has averaged 22.72 in six Tests in 2024 to date.

“I saw a stat the other day about Virat — it said he’s only scored two Test hundreds in the last five years. That didn’t seem right to me, but if that is accurate, then that’s, I mean, that’s a concern,” Ponting said.

“There probably wouldn’t be anyone else still playing international cricket as a top-order batsman who’s only scored two Test match hundreds in five years.”

But Ponting is mindful that Kohli saves his best form for Australia, a view that is held by former greats and Fox Cricket experts including Adam Gilchrist, Michael Vaughan and Mark Waugh.

Former Australian spinner Kerry O’Keeffe expects the hosts to target Kohli and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who will miss at least the first Test of the series for personal reasons.

“They have the psyche that might turn that around, but Australia will go hard at them,” O’Keeffe told foxsports.com.au.

“Rohit Sharma may miss one or two Tests, but he is the captain, and Australia always tries to torpedo the visiting captain. It’s been a tactic they’ve used forever, and I think they’ll go very hard at Rohit Sharma.

“And Kohli, who has worried them over the years, what a stunning player he’s been, but in sport, if you sense that the King of the jungle is slightly weaker, you poke a bit of cheek at him.

“I’m fascinated to see what Virat Kohli ends up with at the end of the summer. It could be the decisive point in the whole summer. If he has an absolutely blazing series, India could win.”

Lee believes the recipe is right for a “spicy series” between two nations which have a combative history in Tests.

“I think it is going to be a fantastic series. I think there is going to be a bit of spice in this series, definitely with the ball tampering issues in and around the India A team, and particularly now that Ricky Ponting has now come out and given it to Kohli,” he said.

While India lost all three Tests to New Zealand in a massive upset on home soil, Lee expects them to bounce back in Australia and believes they are capable of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

He is predicting a 2-all draw and said that while Australia has an outstanding attack, there are clear concerns with the batting order.

“We have a world class attack with (Mitchell) Starc, (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Nathan) Lyon. I mean, ‘c’mon’. It doesn’t get much better than that,” he said.

“(But) our batting is fragile. It is probably one of the weaker batting line-ups I have seen for an Australian Test side in a long while. (Nathan) McSweeney is going to come in and he is under pressure, because he has never batted as an opener, and I think that is a specialist position.

“(Usman) Khawaja is the stand out for me (for Australia) at the moment. He is going to play really well. (Marnus) Labuschagne, for me, has been out of form for a while, as has Steve Smith.

“It is going to come down to our batting and how well we can handle pressure, particularly with (Jasprit) Bumrah and their pace attack steaming in when the wicket is doing a bit.”

Shane Lee and his fellow band mates in Six & Out are embarking on another national tour this summer, kicking off with this week’s ‘CricketRocks’ event at Rooty Hill’s Sydney Coliseum Theatre.

Gavin Robertson, Brad McNamara, Richard Chee Quee and the Lee brothers will be joined by members of the Australian cricket team and modern greats David Warner, Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Ravi Shastri, and Brad Haddin, just to name a few.

Tickets for Cricket Rocks at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre on Friday are available here.